Fresh Blood and New Beginnings
by BlueNeutrino
Summary: Following a savage vampire attack, the world of a young Belgian witch is turned on its head as she finds herself starting a new life at Hogwarts. Features traditional vampires, next generation characters/OCs, and no pairings.
1. Solitude

_**Fresh Blood and New Beginnings**_

**Summary: Following a savage vampire attack, the world of a young Belgian witch is turned on its head as she finds herself starting a new life at Hogwarts.  
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**A/N: Having come across quite a few fics now that cross over Twilight with Harry Potter and make being a vampire in HP world a good thing, I wanted to set myself the challenge of writing a HP fic with vampires more like what JKR had in mind when she wrote the books. In other words, something that's more inkeeping with traditional vampire mythology. In the process, I also thought I'd challenge myself to put a different spin on that fanfic cliche, the Hogwarts transfer student. This is the result.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

_**Chapter One - Solitude**_

In the darkness the girl sat. Solid walls rose up around her, oppressive in their grey, clinical blankness. Heavy curtains were draped across the windows, smothering the daylight. How long had she been here? She could no longer remember. No longer tell the passage of time when night and day all blurred into one here in the dark.

She had some vague idea of where she was. Mixed in with the distant screams echoing through her brain she had some faint recollection of how she'd come to be here. Her mind replayed the sequence of events for her: there were noises…savage growls, terrified screams…someone laughing dementedly. She was unable to see through the haze of red clouding her vision: indistinct shapes moving in the shadows, flashes of light that danced before her eyes. Eventually it all faded away into blackness and it was only the auditory memory she was left with, replaying in her head as if from some macabre dictaphone. There were more screams; a cacophony of yells and cries of pain before her uncle's voice cut over the racket. "Karlijn? Karlijn?" He spoke her name urgently, sounding panicked…scared. She wondered why it was him who was here looking for her and not her mum.

Then she remembered that her mum's voice had been part of the screaming.

A fresh shriek suddenly tore from her own throat as she felt the sudden realisation of what had happened. Her muddled thoughts snapped back into place, the past colliding with the present with horrifying clarity. The attack. Her parents being savagely murdered in front of her. Her uncle Laurens coming to find her…but not before that monster had found her first.

Karlijn felt her body shake as she recalled what happened, remembering the agonising pain that had burned into the side of her neck and the fire that had threatened to consume her entire being. It had seemed to go on forever. She couldn't even remember when it ended, just knew that at some point she'd woken up to find herself here.

St Lonwyn's. Special Ward.

They were keeping her in solitary confinement, as much for their own protection as it was for hers.

Karlijn squirmed in the steel cot she lay upon and gave a moan. The bed was uncomfortable, but the discomfort she felt from that was drowned out completely by the savage hunger gnawing away at her insides. _God, _she wanted to eat. Her hands trembled, muscles twitched. She flexed her fingers and once more tried to pull away from the bonds around her wrists, but it was no use. They were too strong for her. An unbreakable charm had been cast on them after she'd managed to tear through her first restraints, attacking the mediwitches who'd been bringing her the dose of haemoglobin they were prescribing. Not her fault. It was understandable that she couldn't control herself this soon after the transformation. But it had given them reason to leave her here on her own; shut off, isolated, kept alone for hours at her time with nothing but the confused memories of the attack and a growing sense of hunger to keep her company.

She wished she could understand. Why did they only let Uncle Laurens in every few hours to see her? And why had they blacked out the windows? Her mind was telling her there was a reason for it, but she couldn't remember what. All she wished was that she could see sunlight again, and that she wouldn't be left alone any longer. Why couldn't there be someonehere with her? And why wouldn't they let her _eat?_

God, she needed to eat so badly. If she didn't feed soon she was sure her stomach would cave in on itself. Already she could feel her ribs sticking out through her taut skin, as if there was a vacuum inside sucking all the flesh inwards until there was nothing left, unless a fresh meal of warm blood was there to fill it.

Karlijn screamed again. Where was everybody? Why had they abandoned her? She must have been here hours…days. Somebody must be out there…please…

Her cries continued to echo out throughout the vast blank room until at long last there was a sudden disturbance of light penetrating the darkness, a small stream of it spilling in from somewhere in the distance. In shock and relief Karlijn's cries died in her parched throat and instead her body shook with a sob, exhaustion taking over as she felt she barely had the energy to cry anymore. _Thank God somebody had come for her._

With great effort she raised her head and squinted into the light, trying desperately to focus on the blurred figure that was approaching her.


	2. A World Crumbling

_**Chapter Two – A World Crumbling**_

In the light shapes moved. Karlijn's eyelids fluttered, fighting hard to stay awake. Someone had come for her. She wasn't alone anymore…

Relief began to wash over her, and she hoped that maybe somehow they'd let her out of here and just let her _eat. _Voices murmured around her but she struggled to make out any words; her mind was too hazy and clouded. She felt her strength draining just with the effort of trying to concentrate on what was going on, and she almost wanted to just close her eyes and go to sleep…but then she smelt it.

The sharp metallic scent like rusted iron, faint but present in the air all around her. As it filled her nostrils she felt a sudden burst of fresh strength, and she jerked upright and strained against the bonds around her wrists, filled with a burning need to finds its source.

Her eyes were still unfocussed. She could barely see or hear what was going on, the only thing filling her senses being the fierce bite of hunger and the rich scent of blood. It was in her reach now, but still somehow so far away… She needed it, but still couldn't get it. Her insides burned and she thought she might die from starvation, but then she felt something being pressed to her lips and a cool, salty fluid flooded into her mouth. There was a strange underlying flavour to it that made it taste chemical and sterile, but at the same time the concoction of organic compounds and ferrous molecules was so, _so _welcome. She gulped it down ravenously, not stopping until she'd drained the first container and then cried out for another one, which was quickly provided.

As she drank the hunger slowly abated and the fuzziness clouding her mind gradually disappeared. She began to become more aware of her surroundings, and as she calmed down she felt someone undo the straps around her wrists to allow her to hold the container for herself. Grateful that she could once again move, she took hold of the cup that was being offered to her and drank from it eagerly. Just as she was finishing the third dose she noticed there were two mediwitches on either side of her and her Uncle Laurens was sat beside her bed. Her brow creased in concentration for a moment as she tried to work out what was happening, and then she remembered the procedure for when they would feed her every few hours. Now that the fresh blood was in her system she was much more lucid and capable of understanding. She was also able to remember everything in much more vivid detail.

Uninvited, an image of razor sharp canines and a leering red-eyed face flashed suddenly across her mind, and she quickly tried to force it out. "Hello Uncle," she muttered, trying to distract herself.

He gave her a comforting smile and reached out to rest a hand on her knee. "Hi Lijnie, how are you feeling?"

She smiled back at him weakly. "Awful."

Laurens sighed sadly, looking at her with a sympathetic – almost pitying – expression. "I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"Me too," she muttered, swallowing the last drops from the cup she was holding and handing it back to the mediwitch, who quickly passed her another one. "How long have I been here, Uncle? It's getting hard to keep track of time," she asked, partly wanting to know, and partly just glad to be talking to somebody _whatever _the topic of conversation.

"Almost a week," he answered, and she looked shocked.

"Just a week?"

He nodded. "Yes, sweetheart."

Karlijn didn't speak and instead forced herself to swallow the next mouthful of clinical-grade haemoglobin, taking a moment to process that information. Just a week. It felt like so much longer, what with all the time she'd been left in here on her own, unable to tell how much time had passed. As she realised exactly what that meant she felt herself wanting to cry again, and stifled a sob into her cup as she gulped down the next mouthful. Her parents had been dead almost a whole week. Just seven days in which she hadn't seen them, or spoken to them or hugged them…but there were going to be hundreds more in which she would never get to do any of those things again.

Unable to hold it in any longer, a sob wracked her body and she let out of whimper, spitting out blood as she was unable to prevent herself from crying.

Laurens reached out to rub her arm soothingly, making soft shushing noises.

She looked up at him with bleary eyes. "I want mum," she said, her voice cracking, and as Laurens looked at her he felt himself wanting to cry too. It wasn't fair everything that had been done to her. A surge of anger coursed through him as he thought of the monster that had brutally torn his brother and sister-in-law from him and that had turned his smiling, bubbly, niece into the traumatised wreck in front of him. He wanted so badly to do something to help her, but yet he was helpless to make everything right. That thought pained him. It ate away at him so much that he wanted to lash out in frustration, but he forced himself to hold it together. He had to. For Karlijn's sake. She'd lost enough already without watching him break down as well.

Breathing deeply, Laurens tried to comfort her as best he could. "I know you do," he said softly, wishing to God that somehow Johanna was still with them so that she could be there for her daughter and make everything okay. But he knew that wasn't ever going to happen.

Through tear filled eyes Karlijn stared round at the darkened room and seemed to grow even more panicked. "Is this what it's always going to be like from now on, Uncle?" she choked out between sobs. "I'm never going to get any older. Never going to be able to see daylight again. Never do things with my friends. Never eat real food…"

She was looking at him with an expression that seemed almost pleading and he wished he could give her the answer she wanted to hear. "I know it seems bad now, Lijnie, but we'll find a way to make this work. The healers say there's a potion to help manage your condition."

At that Karlijn's eyes lit up as she latched on to what felt like the only ray of hope in the world right now. "What's that?" she asked, trying to calm herself down.

Laurens tried to explain it as bed he could, hoping he could put her more at ease. "Well, it has its side-effects, but the healers say it will help make life more normal for you. It's dangerous to take it too early after the transformation, but they've said in a few weeks they can start you on Draught of Sangwort. You should be able to go out in some levels of daylight, and it'll manage the hunger pangs so that they don't become unbearable. The aging process will continue, just at a slower rate. You'll be able to eat at least some kinds of real food, and the healers say that if you combine that with carefully managed doses of synthetic blood then you should be able to lead an almost normal lifestyle."

Karlijn had stopped crying now and was instead listening intently, feeling so relieved to be hearing this. "So I will be able to see my friends again then?" she said hopefully, "And I can go back to school?"

Seeing the hopeful expression on her face, Laurens felt his heart sink as he anticipated what he was about to tell her. This was one topic he wished hadn't come up quite so soon, but he was going to have to tell her the truth at some point. Better to be honest with her now than have to crush her expectations all over again later. "Ah. Well, I've already had to speak with Madame D'Alembert to explain why you won't be returning to Beauxbatons after Easter break," he began, and noticing his sombre tone Karlijn immediately began to look worried again. "And she's said that while she has every sympathy with your situation, the school won't be able to accept a vampire."

As his words sank in Karlijn's expression grew increasingly mortified. "But I've been going to that school for three years!" she cried out desperately, "All my friends are there!"

At her sudden outburst one of the mediwitches took the half-empty cup off her and patted her shoulder, saying softly, "Try and relax, dear. Getting upset won't do you any good."

Karlijn didn't react to her at all and instead just continued to stare pleadingly at her uncle, who looked back at her with a pained expression.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Laurens replied, hating that he had to tell her this, "But she says it's in the best interests of…"

Karlijn suddenly spoke over him again, the pitch of her voice rising as she became even more upset. "But you said this potion will make me normal, so why can't I go back? Tell her I can go back, Uncle!"

Laurens just shook his head sadly. "I've tried to convince her, Lijnie, but there's nothing I can do. You'll get to complete your education though, I'll make sure of that. I can make inquiries to Wievens in Holland, or Hogwarts in the UK…"

Karlijn looked mortified by that last suggestion. "I don't _want _to go to Britain, Uncle! I want to stay with my friends. If I'm not ever going to see Mum or Dad again then why can't I at least see Marianne and Emmy…" She'd broken down into tears again at that point, and Laurens leaned in to put an arm around her and press a kiss to her forehead.

"I know, and I'm so, so sorry," he muttered in her ear, "But the thing is Lijnie, no matter how much we want to, we can't ever go back to the way things were before. It's going to be difficult, I know, but things are going to have to change. I wish they didn't, sweetheart, really, but I promise I am going to do everything I can to make this work out as well as possible for you."

Karlijn wasn't able to say anything in response to that, but instead just turned to bury her face in his shoulder and continued to cry. Several more sobs wracked her skinny body as she wondered what the hell was going to happen to her now.


	3. Trepidation

_**Chapter Three – Trepidation**_

_Six Months Later_

With a hoot and an emphatic chug from the engines to signal its departure, the train set off from Platfrom 9 ¾ and began the journey that would take it to the station at Hogsmeade. Inside, students milled around, seeking out friends not seen since before the summer and trying to find a place to sit. In one of the compartments, a lone figure sat with her arms wrapped around herself and trying to keep as far from the window as possible. She was wearing a thick black cloak with the hood pulled over her head, and beneath it her pale skin was covered in a sticky sheen resulting from the application of gallons of sun cream. Karlijn felt ridiculous. She was on her own for now, but somebody else was bound to walk in sooner or later and they'd no doubt think it was completely weird that she was sat here wearing a heavy-duty outdoor cloak. She wished she didn't have to wear it. The Sangwort potion let her go out in moderate daylight, but anything above the intensity of a cloudy spring day and her skin burned very quickly. From what she'd heard about the weather in England she'd been expecting it to be much duller and wetter than this, but her expectations had been dashed when she and her uncle had arrived in London yesterday to find it was perfectly sunny. The first thing Laurens had done was buy six bottles of sun lotion and insist she wore that and her cloak for the duration of the trip to Hogwarts, but being sat here with the hood pulled over her head made Karlijn feel like an idiot. Was it _really _necessary? The light intensity inside the compartment really wasn't that bad; she'd probably be alright if she took it off for a while.

Unclasping the fastenings, Karlijn let out a sigh as she shrugged the cloak off her shoulders, feeling the weight of the heavy material lifting but not sensing any relief from the weight pressing down on her mind. As if it wasn't bad enough having to leave her old friends behind, even more daunting was the prospect of making new ones. She'd never really struggled to make friends before now, but that was before she'd gotten all…vampire-y. Now that was a major issue she had to deal with, and she really didn't feel like it was a secret she was ready to share yet. How could she make friends if she didn't feel like she could be honest with them? And how would she explain all her weird quirks like not being able to eat certain foods or wearing her hood up all the time outdoors? Not to mention the explaining would be made even more difficult by the fact her English was somewhat rusty. French and Flemish she spoke fluently, German passably, but English? Not so much. Technically, she thought she had a good grasp on the language, but she'd only ever visited England once and the thought of actually having to actually speak it to people was nerve made this whole experience even more daunting.

Karlijn found herself thinking back to what Headmistress McGonagall had said to her four months ago when they'd met to discuss if Karlijn would be able to attend Hogwarts. _"Hogwarts is a school of tolerance," _the kind but intimidating elderly witch had told her and Laurens, "_We do not discriminate against students based on blood status, background or any other circumstances that have arisen from events beyond the student's control. I am proud to say that Hogwarts can count werewolves and half-giants among our alumni, and I have every intention of upholding the principles that our school values so highly. Provided certain precautionary measures are taken, I would be happy to offer Miss Moreau a place here."_

_Tolerance. _That was what she had said, but Karlijn knew that McGonagall could only speak for herself and the teachers on that matter. She had no control over the students. Karlijn doubted they'd be likely to accept a foreigner – and an oddball one at that. Even if they didn't know she was a vampire they'd surely notice just how unusual she was, what with the things she had to do to manage her condition which weren't always easy to keep discreet. She'd tried to be optimistic – Uncle Laurens had told her that Hogwarts had a reputation for being very accepting – but even so, that hadn't stopped her natural inclination to worry. It was made even worse by the fact that Hogwarts was so far away from home for her. Geographically, she supposed it wasn't actually much further from Antwerp than Beauxbatons had been, but it _was _overseas. She almost wished that Wievens had accepted her, despite not having the high reputation that Hogwarts did, but it was at least relatively close by just south of Maastricht. However, they'd turned her down for the same reasons Beauxbatons had. Hogwarts seemed to be the only magic school in Western Europe willing to accept a vampire.

Perhaps that was something to be grateful for at least – that there _was _still a school ready to let her complete her education, but she wondered what good that would be if she wasn't going to age to the level of becoming an adult for the next thirty or so years. Vampires technically weren't supposed to age at all, it was only the Sangwort draught that allowed her to do so, but she still didn't much like the idea of only being physically fourteen by the time she graduated. That probably didn't do much to help her prospects of getting a job.

She sighed again, wondering if she'd chosen the right subjects for her OWLs after all. She'd picked the same ones as she'd originally put down for her BATs – _Baccalauréat À Telchines_ – at Beauxbatons: Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Defense Against The Dark Arts, Potions and Charms. She'd been hoping to become a Cursebreaker after completing school, but given that vampires were supposedly cursed themselves she wasn't sure if that option would be open to her now. Just contemplating that put her in a dark mood, but before she had chance to get caught up brooding on it she was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of the compartment door sliding open. Taken by surprise, Karlijn's head spun round just in time to see someone peering inside.

**A/N: A couple of things I wanted to elaborate on:  
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**[1] _Baccalauréat À Telchines = _Beauxbatons equivalent of OWLs. The Telchines are wizards from Greek mythology, so this could be thought of as a qualification awarded for achieving a certain standard in the study of magic, following in the tradition of ancient wizards.**

**[2] Wievens = magic school in the Netherlands named after the Witte Wieven (Weird Sisters) who are white witches from Dutch mythology.  
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